Something About Mike

Check this guy out...his name is Mike Ramirez, and he is one of my top students in the program, but he is also a little strange at times.  I really like this picture of him on his bike, in his Mickey Dees uniform...what do you think?

Anyways, check it out, a couple of weeks ago, Mike sends me a text telling me that he is too sick to come to school...I didn't trip on it, and went about my day.  But when school let out, a couple of the guys and I were a little hungry so we ended up at the nearest McDonald's...check out the video...

 

That's my boy Humberto in the background saying "What's up Maniac!" and that's Mike trying to ignore him...the whole scene was surreal and hilarious!  Too sick for school, but not too sick to flip them patties, huh?

There's something about Mike....

Two Weeks Into The Program...

So let me introduce you to some more people involved in the program, and update you on some of the latest drama...

Mr. Ruiz...the electrical guru...Mr. Ruiz is head of the Photovoltaic department at the East L.A. Skills Center...excellent teacher, semi-genius...this dude knows something about everything!

Thaddeus Skiles...top student in the advanced class...fresh out of prison, lives in a behavioral modification program, and really trying to turn his life around.

 Humberto Aguilar...class clown.  Also fresh out of prison and trying to change his life through this program.

 Good ol' Jack Clopton...he's an addict in recovery trying to find a new start, something fresh...he also has been recently diagnosed with cancer...how will this affect Jack's performance at school?  We will find out in the next few weeks.

 Kamilah Pia Burns...young Pia, the one and only female in the advanced class...this has been a struggle for her from the beginning...it hasn't gotten any easier...recovering addict, single mom trying to re-establish her parental rights, student...quite a full plate for this young woman.

Salim Torres...one of the late additions to the Homeboy Industries roster...really intelligent...one of the shining stars in the program.

 Mike Ramirez...this guy goes from shining star to problem child on a daily basis...I got a story about this guy at Mc Donald's that will trip you out...next post, I promise.

 Elias Vaden...he's disappeared without a trace...we were really hopeful about this guy...he came one day and then poof! disappeared!  Where in the world is Elias?!?!

 Damien Ramirez...we put Damien in Elias' spot...young kid, the attendance is already spotty...we'll see how he turns out.

And finally, Ronnie O.  The cops went looking for him at his house on Friday...today is Monday, and he didn't show...

~The Shotcallers~

Well, time for you to meet some of the key players from Homeboy Industries that help run the Solar Panel Training Program...

~We will start at the top: Father Gregory Boyle, better known as "Gee" to the flock of gang-members whose lives he attempts to change on a daily basis.

Fr. Gregory Boyle – best known as Gee by all who meet him -- was born in Los Angeles, one of eight children. His father, a third-generation Irish-American, worked in the family-owned dairy in Los Angeles County and his mother worked to keep track of her large family. As a youth, Fr. Greg and several of his siblings worked side by side with their father in the dairy. After graduating from Loyola High School in Los Angeles in 1972, he decided to become a Jesuit and was ordained a priest in 1984.

Homeboy Industries traces its roots to “Jobs For A Future” (JFF), a program created in 1988 by Fr. Greg at Dolores Mission parish. In an effort to address the escalating problems and unmet needs of gang-involved youth, Fr. Greg and the community developed positive alternatives, including establishing an elementary school, a day care program and finding legitimate employment for young people. JFF’s success demonstrated the model followed today that many gang members are eager to leave the dangerous and destructive life on the “streets.”

In 1992, as a response to the civil unrest in Los Angeles, Fr. Greg launched the first business (under the organizational banner of JFF and Proyecto Pastoral, separated from Dolores Mission Church): Homeboy Bakery with a mission to create an environment that provided training, work experience, and above all, the opportunity for rival gang members to work side by side. The success of the Bakery created the groundwork for additional businesses, thus prompting JFF to become an independent non-profit organization, Homeboy Industries, in 2001. Today Homeboy Industries’ nonprofit economic development enterprises include Homeboy Bakery, Homeboy Silkscreen, Homeboy Maintenance, Homeboy/HomegirlMerchandise, and HomegirlCafé.

~Next up: Hector Verdugo, Director of Homeboy Industries, top man of the Solar Panel Training Program...

Hector Verdugo is Director for Homeboy Industries. He himself joined a gang when he was 14. At the age of 24, he gave up his criminal life.

~My immediate boss: Aswad Humphries - Coordinator for the Solar Panel Training Program.

Aswad is a former gang member that went through the Solar Panel Training Course himself.  He was handpicked to head up the program early this year and he has brought a breath of new life to the program. He is the man that ultimately picks the candidates for the program, in other words, the buck stops with Oz, as he is better known.

~And finally, me...

Yeah, I'm a former gang member from the streets of Long Beach...I went through the program myself and my love and my loyalty ultimately lay with Father Greg...he has saved my ass, baptized my child and loved me when he barely knew me...oh yeah, and he gave me  a job!  My name is Jose Osuna, Assistant Coordinator for the program, and it is my pleasure to be a part of this...hope you get to know us over the next few months...

What's it all about...

So I work with gang members, drug addicts, and criminals.
Yup, I help them change their lives, stop going to jail, stay clean, and at the core of it, learn a trade.

We deal with photovoltaic systems, or in laymen terms, solar energy...

I work for Homeboy Industries. My boss is a Jesuit priest named Gregory Boyle, a priest who loves cholos, cholas, bloods, and crips. I help Father Gee, as he is better known amongst the "homies", with a program that trains at-risk people in how to design and install solar energy systems. That's right, the homeboys and homegirls are going green!
Gangster's Paradise...


My best friend and I have decided to document through pictures and film the next group of individuals that goes through the program...Homeboy Industries will place them in a trade course in a Los Angeles public school, pay their school fees, and help them succeed in any way possible.

Me...



They are a group of people from all different racial backgrounds, different life stories, but they all have one thing in common: they all want to change their lives and they all are looking for a better future.

My new guys...

Ronnie, Robert, and Tony

Michael R., Van, and Kevin


Elias

Daniel A.

Ezell and David

James and Sid

Girard

Diego and Jose C.

Michael H.

We will do our best to tell their story, we will do our best to tell you how they attempt to slip out of the darkness, and try to shine in the light.

Solo

Leave him to his solitude
where the light bulb lurches
over the bed
making love to the dark
huddled against the ceiling
and the blankets all are beaten
like wayward apologies.

Let the clock by his pillow
break the sad news
and tally the lies
of her comings
and goings
and their coupling
under the canopy
of weightless flesh
where love once disturbed their sleep
and her arms still ached enough
to break their fall.

For midnight will catch the floor
like it always does
the upwelling of her words
left bristling in the carpet
and send him spilling
in the dark
like blistered silk
setting sadly into the dawn -
just another memory
found missing in the morning.